Mr Emery is not a clown, and Arsenal’s failure is not his fault

By Tony Attwood

Just Arsenal News recently published an article titled “It’s Arsenal’s fault for appointing a clown as the manager” and it immediately became one of the most read articles among the Arsenal blogs and online newspaper columns.

And I think it is quite wrong.

The essence of the article is that Emery should be sacked at once, on the grounds, primarily, that he made poor substitions in the Brighton game and has not brought in the right players all season.

Looking back, the writer claims at the start of the article that “We appointed a manager who’s biggest success is winning the Europa League.” Which when it comes down to it, isn’t quite right. And that undermines the article a bit.

Because apart from his triumphs with Sevilla in winning the Europa three times, Mr Emery also won the French League in 2017/18 with PSG, along with the French Cup and League Cup, and indeed the year before that he won the two cups. So a double and a treble.

It is a bit of a blunder if you are going to do a hatchet job on a man – I mean we all make mistakes, and as every regular reader of Untold knows, I make them by the bucket load, but even so, when the idea is to write about the manager in a manner that destroys his reputation, leaving out his main achievements is a bit much.

N0w it might be argued that this hardly matters since PSG were bound to win the league since they have all the money, courtesy of Qatar Sports Investments and Emirates Airlines, money that has been found to be of such an amount as even to cause Uefa some concern. And I suspect indeed that PSG have gained unfair advantages, just as I suspect Manchester City have in England (although what I suspect is of course neither here nor there).

But the point is that Mr Emery was not the man who got the money – he simply managed the team – and given a team that cost a lot of money he romped home last season by 13 points and with a +79 goal difference, 35 points above Rennes in 5th.

Pos

Team

Pld

W

D

L

F

A

GD

Pts

1

Paris Saint-Germain

38

29

6

3

108

29

+79

93

2

Monaco

38

24

8

6

85

45

+40

80

3

Lyon

38

23

9

6

87

43

+44

78

4

Marseille

38

22

11

5

80

47

+33

77

5

Rennes

38

16

10

12

50

44

+6

58

So Mr Emery can deliver when he has enough money to buy a team of champions. However what he is doing at Arsenal is dealing with a club that does not have the money to spend. It did not last summer, nor it seems will it have this summer. So why blame the manager?

The reason I guess is that it is a lot easier for many people to do this, than to blame themselves for joining in the “Wenger out” campaign of last season, which did not mention who should be appointed instead or what should happen to the owner’s policies of restricting expenditure, but simply suggested that changing the manager for someone else was the answer.

In fact, it has turned out not to be, and so people are starting to suggest we… well, not to put too fine a point on it, do the thing that has just failed (ie sack the manager) again.

It won’t bring success. What would change the club would be a constant, loud, pictorial campaign against the owner. But no, the idea seems to be to take a failed approach, and repeat it.

Now to be fair, tucked away in the text of the article is the note that, “To go forward, this football club ultimately needs a new owner. Somebody who would actually care. because we don’t have the fanbase that will put the necessary effort to make a real statement. But even with that said, make no mistake, this was a golden year to capitalize on the mistakes other made and make it back to champions league. The manager has ZERO excuses.”

That seems to me to be wrong. Mr Emery was up against clubs that, apart from Tottenham, were spending much more than Arsenal on players. And before the argument is then made that we ought to be better than Tottenham, in that case, I would say no. Some clubs do occasionally find themselves with an excellent team, irrespective of cost. Tottenham are in that position at the moment. Arsenal have been in that position for 19 years – and then bowed to fan pressure to persaude the manager to go, so he did.

Tottenham in fact are doing a Wenger. Our problem is we are not doing a Wenger.

And for the most part we are competing with teams who have money Arsenal could have if the owner behaved like the owner of Liverpool, Man C, Man U, or Chelsea. That obviously does not guarantee success – but it makes it much more likely.

Mr Emery is dealing with what he has got. I suspect Mr Wenger would have done better because he would have handled the youngsters in a different way, but that is neither here nor there. Because of the Wenger Out campaign Mr Wenger has gone. Now all we can have are managers who will work with smaller budgets and simply hope to do what Mr Wenger did year after year after year: succeed without a budget.

So when the writer of the article says, “We should’ve gone for an experienced manager, who can handle pressure,” I don’t think that will make any odds. What we need is a Wenger II, a man who can work against the monied clubs, without money.

Are there any Wenger’s about? Possibly, but having seen what some of the “fans” did to Mr Wenger, I doubt they would even give Arsenal a second look.

33 comments to Mr Emery is not a clown, and Arsenal’s failure is not his fault

You are right until the management changes its policy of minimum spending there can be no progress. If other clubs are buying worldclass players and Arsenal are only depending on retiring players who are spent forces, we cannot compete other clubs.

Dear Tony,
I have been following – and supporting – Arsenal FC since 1996. You might guess why! As a Frenchman from Nice (but as a coincidence, when I came to spend a year in London, i was living near Manor House. A curse!), I discovered Wengerball in Monaco (1987) when Arsène started to coach the local team. A game in particular that I attended during this summer was Monaco-Toulouse, when Monaco defeated their opponents by 4 to 1. A pure joy! Playmaker: Hoddle. Striker: Hateley. Rings a bell? Ozil & Giroud, maybe? I suspect Mr David Dean was also at the Stade Louis II this very evening… Anyway. Arsène Wenger has always had his views and ways about playing football, and stuck to them with passion, class and elegance, not to mention a vision for the future. No one can deny that, even his enemies in the football sphere. And believe me, it was not easy to stay calm in those days when your main opponent for the French title had, let’s say… other ways. I won’t go into details upon Arsène’s legacy in the UK, any objective person will grant him his due. My point is: Untold Arsenal is by far my favorite Arsenal blog, not only because your articles are documented and different but, also, because you REMEMBER. A quality that tends to disappear… When George Weah was awaeded his Golden Ball (unique African player to have this privilege), he paid a tribute to his “father” in football: Arsène Wenger. Merci George (or should I say Mr President?), you remembered. So many have forgotten who helped them be where they are now…

I can’t work out if you are happy with Emery. I think his tactics, defending, substitutions and general decisions at the club have been poor. Eg chasing a game – swap Laca for PEA!! Drop Ozil then make him captain? Rotation rotation rotation. Palace game – crap midfield & defence. Chamber on loan when short at the back….. endless.
He’s no Wenger and doesn’t benefit from a Graham back 5 to start his campaign.
The clubs in a mess from top to bottom & Emery doesn’t have the skills to dig us out.

Wenger11? That would be something wouldn’t it? I’d say the nearest to that I’ve seen is Nuno Herlander Simões Espírito Santo of Wolves who’s put together a superb young team for less than £70 million spend since 2016 (we’ve spent more than that on just two strikers) although very few (if any) of the team have come through the youth ranks.
I don’t know anything about Spurs recruitment system, but their current squad must be the best for value in the Premier League (with a net spend of £zero this season) but I think that must be more to do with Levy than Pochetino. Hope I’m not offending hard line Gooners by commenting positively on this because they’ll suffer the way we have following the stadium build and repayments affecting their budget.

Agreed nothing will ever be good enough until we have an owner who will shit 500m a season alla City and Utd. This is a longer term plan unfortunately but for us more patient and understanding fans when UEFA grow some balls and ban City and PSG for well ….. cheating well be in a better position.

We are self reliant which is a good thing an we’ve had such good teams and players over the Wenger years we’ve been continuously picked apart by richer clubs. Gazidis has put us 10 years behind where Wenger expected us to be.

My thanks to “Untold Arsenal” for a cogent and informed reply to an article that went close to prompting my losing my temper and responding in a less than polite way. I thought the original article accusing Unai Emery of being a clown was crass, superficial and strewn with errors. However, I will concede that the writer cares passionately about Arsenal and would wish that his passion could be more positively focused.
I believe, and have believed for some time, that the problem lies with the Owners and the Yes-Men within Arsenal’s management. I don’t know enough about Arsenal’s Board to be able to make any suggestions but surely there must be something that they in combination with the Fans can do to try to remedy our ownership situation.
Will the Kronke family and their surrogates be allowed to destroy a Club whose proud traditions are at the very root of English Football

now we are in the lets remember AW mode and give credit where credit is due: he really did get the best out of Alexis for a few seasons with some nice silverware as a result, nobody seems to remember that. AW was/is a class act and really could get the best out of his players. Having said that: Lets support the club, the players and the manager in a constructive way. COYG!

This is not about Wenger or what Mr Emery did at other clubs. Take the last four games. One point from twelve. Even the players did not know what was happening. Mr Emery is a Europa Cup man. Arsenal have passed that now. We should be with the best in Europe We need a manager the players trust.

Tony
I was one of those ingrates that thought the Wenger era had come to an end and things must change. I can remember sitting on the North Bank when Wenger was on the Jumbotron speaking from Japan. All around us was the cry of ‘who’ and why don’t we get a proper manager. Well we got an artist and a long period of sheer delight. I was a bit surprised when our present manager got the job but not at all surprised by the very uneven season. (Pity about the wretched few last games)
But, change in any business can be messy and take time. No point me giving a list of players who are just not good enough as I am sure senior management knows better than us. Also who to bring in? Again, how much do we really know?
One thing is sure and that is there will be no change in ownership of the club. Reading North American newspapers regarding his other sports teams makes that as clear as a bell. Managers and management will have to be very clever at selecting players and not paying German midfielders way over the top in salaries.

Tony, there’s no point debating whether or not all the miracles you attribute to St Wenger were actually performed, you would probably just repeat the same tomorrow. However, a few points;
1. The article has zero evidence, 100% opinion. There’s no problem with that, football is mainly argued based on opinion. However, remember to allow same when the opinion differs from yours.
2. In the last 5years of Wenger’s reign, arsenal were only outspent(net) by City, United and Chelsea. Arsenal outspent Liverpool and Tottenham in the market. Based on results within that period, I can’t conclude that we punched above our weight.
3. Emery isn’t a clown, but neither is the writer of the article you reference, mistaken when he says Emery’s biggest achievement is winning the Europa league multiple times. Even if he won it once, in my opinion it would be a bigger feat than one ligue 1 title with PSG. However, why I’m making this point is that you seem to be the main proponent of the thought that winning the French ligue 1 with PSG is not an achievement or at best a minor one, as is juve winning the Italian league, or Bayern winning the German league or indeed barca &Madrid winning the Spanish LA liga. You practically sing that to us in articles upon articles. But when someone from just arsenal writes it, he’s mistaken? Because you want to make a point that arsenal’s problem is singular, the owner? I thought you have an issue with people suggesting singular solutions to complex issues? Why can’t arsenal’s problem include the owner, manager and others?
4. From the above it is obvious I wanted Wenger out, I feel he was a part of the problem (one aspect of a complex issue, not the way you continuously try to label us as Wenger out only), therefore it goes without saying that if Emery succeeds, it helps my argument that Wenger was past his prime. However, I can concede that Emery hasn’t done up to the (low) expectations I had of him. The ownership is part of the problem but I can’t blame the owners for losses to bate borisov, Rennes, crystal palace, wolves, Leicester, Everton etc. These teams are not barca, man city or even Liverpool. So Emery must take his own portion of the blame, the players too.
4. Should the manager be sacked, I think he deserves a bit more time to see if he’s up to the task. Do the owners need to change their ways? Definitely. I rooted for Usmanov, while he was still hanging around. I remember when he offered to put in £100m for player purchase, I remember the scornful articles untold were writing about his offer, basically saying “we’re self reliant and we love it that way”. Today you have turned, let’s hope Kroenke follows suit.

Concerning the issue of evidence it is worth noting that early on it says “And I think it is quite wrong.” “Think” is a word oft used to introduce an opinion. My objection is generally with people who present their own ideas as facts.

In terms of self-reliance I do see that as part of the philosophy of the club that Henry Norris created after the collapse of Woolwich Arsenal into debt. It is possible, and indeed for the moment Tottenham are achieving that, as Mr Wenger did for many years. My point therefore, although as so often with my writing, not clearly made, is that my ideal is a manager who can work within the self-sustaining model first and foremost, and an owner who allows the profits of the club to be fed back into the club, not taken out by the shareholder(s).

The tragedy of Arsenal was that the model of the self-sustaining club, owned largely by its fans, which Henry Norris moved the rescued club towards, was overthrown after he was ousted. The evidence for this is all provided in “Henry Norris at the Arsenal” https://blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/henry-norris-at-the-arsenal It also deals in great depth with the various allegations made against Norris, in case you are interested in those.

And as to whether the Unbeaten Season and two doubles, plus 19 successive years in the Champions League are called miracles or not, they were reality, and were achieved under the leadership of one man while working under very limited finances.

Well Tony like I mentioned, in my earlier comment I mentioned that in that last 5years of Wenger’s reign arsenal was 4th highest net spender. It’s my opinion also that between 1996-2004 before Chelsea came in the scene, I believe the top 2spenders in the league would have been arsenal and man utd by far. If 3-4 teams go into the champions league then, pardon me for not considering it a miracle to be in the champions league. Since then till now i believe arsenal would be 4-5th top net spender, with 4teams qualifying, it’d be far fetched to consider the 4th, maybe 5th top spender as a miracle worker. Anyways, I’m certain we’ll never agree on this matter.

“1996-2004 before Chelsea came in the scene, I believe the top 2 spenders in the league would have been arsenal and man utd by far.” WRONG

These are net spend for the period you mentioned. They are not to the penny but they’re pretty close comming from Transferleague.com

Man Utd: £115 Million

Liverpool: £95 Million

Spurs: £84 Million

Arsenal: £45 Million

Those are the only 4 I looked at as they were basically the top 4 premier league teams prior to the oil money. I thought you were talking nonsense so I had a quick look and added them in my head quickly so they could even be the odd 10 million out but either way you inference that Arsenal were one of the 2 top spenders is way wide of the mark.

SECONDLY YOU SAY:

“Since then (2004) till now i believe arsenal would be 4-5th top net spender” Not for most of that period we wasn’t.

And these are the net spend figures between 2003 and 2015 posted in an article posted on untold on the 8th of January 2016:

Since Roman Abramovich landed in West London in June 2003 this is a list of the Premiers leagues top Net spenders over the 12 years since then, up to and including last Summer(the summer of 2015):

Man City £800 Million = £66 Million per season

Chelsea £632 Million = £52 Million per season

Man Utd £450 Million = £37 Million per season

Liverpool £283 Million = £23 Million per season

Arsenal £98 Million = £8 Million per season

So again Arsenal are nowhere near the top spenders.

The only thing you get remotely right is if you take the period from 2013, when the purse strings where loosened and we bought Ozil, to the present when indeed we were 4th top net spenders, but on the back of that spending we started winning things, unless of course the FA doesn’t actually count, and finished runner up in the league.

This is the net spending 2013 to present.

Man City: £609 Million

Man Utd: £516 Million

Chelsea £410 Million

Arsenal £261 Million

Liverpool £220 Million

Lets not forget Liverpool haven’t won a thing in that period.

In our successful 96 04 period you suggested we were one of the 2 top spenders which we were not and in fact spent less than both Liverpool and spurs.

In our baron years we were massively out spent by City, Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool and were actually in the bottom half of PL spenders over that period.

And in the period we did start spending we started winning, but we were still massively out spent by the big 3.

And lest we forget Liverpool and spurs have not won the league for much much longer than us and both only have a league cup each to show for the more than a decades efforts.

The FA Cup is not a trophy. Finishing in the Top 4 is not an achievement. The only trophy worth the mention is winning the EPL, and Mr Wenger could not do it because the owner – from the family who own Walmart ASDA – is not going to throw away his money when Man Cit$$$ can buy the EPL title with their loose change.
So we’re stuck, enmeshed in the consequences of our own actions, with as much hope of going forward as our midfield allows.

The fans got what they asked for. How many seasons will it take for Mr Emery to learn the ropes in the EPL and get a top four place?
How many more years will it take for him to actually win the EPL, when Man Cit$$$ can buy it anytime, anywhere, without even having to look at their bank accounts?

The fans kicked Mr Wenger out. To believe that anyone could come in after Mr Wenger and embark on an upward trajectory of success without, first, spending a few seasons having to learn how to achieve success in the EPL, is precisely that – belief. Reality are those games we have all seen this season.

If we are talking about miracles and teams punching above their weight , I can only think of Leicester winning the EPL , and that too it appears against very great odds.

They seemed to have done it by surmounting the insurmountable ! And that too with more than a few ‘lucky’ breaks ,including many penalties going their way , while many fouls by them being strangely not given.

The PIGMOB were overtly kind towards them , while looking the other way , just as were the press and experts . Their fake bewildered utterances and faux wonderment fooled only the gullible. It was a smash and grab job of par excellence .

Kudos to those who did it . We truly did not see it coming . And so far have gotten away with it . Then again , Karma can be a real bitch !

Similarly , congrats to all the punters who placed bets on Liverpool beating Barca and going on to the final .

What are the odds being offered for an all English final in both the CL and the Europa cups ?

And congratulations to the fixers and puppeteers for drawing out the suspense in the EPL till the last day to determine the winners . Will Man City do the unprecedented English treble ?

Or will Liverpool do the EPL and CL double ? Noting that they have not won the first division title in almost 30 years. I think that this Liverpool team is exciting to watch , but then again , their fans……., well you fill in the blanks !

It also would have been exciting had the last two top 4 places gone down the wire .
The Spuds obliged by the now regular end of the season implosion; but Arsenal , Man Utd , and to a slightly lesser extent , Chelsea too, tried their best to screw it all up !

14/15 FA CUP, 3rd in PL and Community Shield ( a trophy according to Jose?)

15/16 League runners up, Community Shield

16/17 FA CUP

17/18 Community Shield

A record worthy of the derision incessantly aimed at him which culminated in his dismissal.

As for miracles, I believe the period of austerity when Wenger maintained a top 4 position on a virtual zero net spend was indeed that, but he recieved nothing but ridicule for that as well.

We all know the last year and a half was not great, largely on the back of a complete loss of form away from home.

Why that was and why indeed it continues to this day heaven only knows. Wenger managed not just one but two unbeaten league campaigns away from home so it’s not as if he didn’t know how to approach away days.

As baffling then as it is today.

But barring that last season and a half, which given Wengers time at Arsenal is relatively nothing, Wenger achieved as much and more than could of been reasonably expected given the circumstances under which he operated.

None of this is a criticism of Emery. I think he has done well.

A new Country, a new league, a new team and new rules to play to. Yes it seems pigmob have it in for Emery as much as they did Wenger.

No matter what I think of our current players/team, they are not HIS players, it is not HIS team. Only once that is the case can a true assessment of Emery’s ability be made.

Assuming we are run as we have been, if Emery achieves anything like what Wenger did I will be more than happy.

I started supporting Arsenal BECAUSE of it’s self sustaining model. I am a businessman and cannot support the idea of throwing money at problems! My ‘romance’ with UNTOLD also started when I found them the most positive blog who stand by their beliefs. Belief in the self sustaining model of running the club and supporting the club, the players and the manager. I sense a shift these days. With all the blame game going on, the owners should not be named AT ALL. Stan bought into the self sustaining model which happens to fit into his philosophy and we should be thankful we have an owner who believes as we do. The lack of success in recent years are not pleasant BUT it is no reason to change our philosophy. That would amount to a lack of character. Achieving success on a low budget is nothing new. Wenger did it for many years as Mr Tony never fails to point out and Ajax is doing it quite successfully today.
Can we stop distracting ourselves in the search for better form and leave our non interfering owners, out of the debate.

Reading many of the above comments, it seems to me as though the only way for Arsenal to succeed, is for the Club to be owned by a free-spending billionaire oil sheik, or a faceless wealthy Russian living outside his country on dubious means.
Has “the beautiful game” really descended to this level? 😎

I accept our self sustaining model. It was how we were told things would be run right back when the first brick was laid at the Emirates.

Nobody predicted the influx of the petroleum money and the fact is if it hadn’t arrived we would almost certainly of won more titles, but it did and we didn’t. That’s life.

I understand the frustrations people feel when we have a Billionaire owner that doesn’t put a penny in, but he never ever said he would.

He didn’t lie, he hasn’t reneged, he’s just not doing what people WANT him to do, and indeed what he HAS to do if we are again to compete at the very top level.

The only way things will change is if he decides to sell and I cant see that happening.

But at the end of the day, as I say it’s all about how one reconciles the reality of the situation in your own head. If you cant accept the reality, life as an Arsenal fan is going to be very miserable for you.

Me personally I will love and support Arsenal no matter what. I will not barrack and abuse our manger or players whoever he or they are.

I will accept they are not all perfect and indeed not all good, that mistakes will be made by players and manager alike, I will scream and shout my frustrations at the telly, but whilst they are at Arsenal they will get my full and unwavering support, snowflake or not.

Only an idiot would expect a Billionaire owner/investor to throw his hard and well earned money to win/buy shiny trinkets so as appease said idiot. I don’t think his investment is so as to increase his popularity with the fans.

I too am contented with his investment and his non interference in the running of the club . That he has shrewdly appointed his management team is a plus point to him.

It is the management’s role is in running the club well , and finding all revenues to increase the finance , while at the same time to prudently prevent any wastage or unwarranted bleeding of money from the club.

To achieve a good and prudent balance , while at the same time moving the club forward is not easy as it may seem . I don’t expect this club to suddenly implode nor go out of business any time soon.

I am quite happy with UE , but for some reason the players have not always been at the top of their game. As long as the PIGMOB is around , I don’t think things are going to change too much. Maybe with VAR , and hopefully dissension from within their own ranks , the situation may improve.

Spurs and Liverpool are going to contest a Champions League final. What do they have in common? In my opinion they are the two teams in the premier league that simulate fouls the most. Their managers must condone or for the hell maybe train for simulation dives. They are rewarded using these tactics. You wonder what happened to Arsenal’s away form and i think it is the fact that teams play for fouls and deliberately use every tactic available to disturb the “fragile minded” present Arsenal team. Couple that with the belief of the opposing home fans that we are fragile makes them turn up with more confidence than for any other opposition. English match officials succumb to this kind atmosphere. Wenger didn’t lose pace with the modern game he just did not want to go in the direction that others were going to achieve success. He was a football purest so much so that I can’t say i remember one instance where Arsene made a substitution to waste time even. He is just not that person. As haphazard as my thoughts are on this matter, I’m basically trying to say it’s win at any cost in football today and that is as far from Wenger’s philosophy as possible. As for why the present management finds itself in the same predicament with a woeful away record, i think they will have to learn from this season. I have a gut feeling that the teams training sessions are too strenuous. The coaches don’t have the knowledge of the intensity of the league in their first year (not sure Bould’s input means much). I don’t think a league game in france or spain has the same almost constant pace as a premier league game. If you drain the players in training you set them off on the wrong foot especially away from home. It’s just my observation of the last 4 or so away league games that no arsenal players had any real intensity. They looked slow and lethargic. Would rotation help? I am not sure, even if we had a deeper squad they’d still be overtrained. Excuse my inferences i love the team and i really can’t comprehend only getting 1 point from those games.